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This close-up of the Verona astrolabe shows Arabic and Hebrew markings. Federica Gigante hide caption

This medieval astrolabe has both Arabic and Hebrew markings. Here's what it means

March 16, 2024 • This discovery sheds new light on the rich history of scholarship and intellectual exchange between Muslims, Jews and Christians during a time of Muslim rule in medieval Spain.

Flares burn off methane and other hydrocarbons at an oil and gas facility in Lenorah, Texas in 2021. New research shows drillers emit about three times as much climate-warming methane as official estimates. David Goldman/AP hide caption

Oil and gas companies emit more climate-warming methane than EPA reports

March 13, 2024 • Oil and gas drillers are releasing more climate-warming methane than the government estimates, a new study shows.

This type of staghorn coral ( Acropora pulchra ) appeared to benefit from the presence of sea cucumbers ( Holothuria atra ), a new study finds. Terry Moore/Stocktrek Images / Science Source hide caption

This often-overlooked sea creature may be quietly protecting the planet's coral reefs

March 13, 2024 • The pickle-shaped bottom feeders may reduce the amount of microbes on the seafloor that could potentially sicken coral, scientists suggest

Millions of people are affected by long COVID, a disease that encompasses a range of symptoms — everything from brain fog to chronic fatigue — and that manifests differently across patients. The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption

What we know about long COVID — from brain fog to physical fatigue

March 13, 2024 • "Long COVID has affected every part of my life," said Virginia resident Rachel Beale said at a recent Senate hearing. "I wake up every day feeling tired, nauseous and dizzy. I immediately start planning when I can lay down again." Beale is far from alone. Many of her experiences have been echoed by others dealing with long COVID. It's a constellation of debilitating symptoms that range from brain fog and intense physical fatigue to depression and anxiety. But there's new, promising research that sheds light onto some symptoms. NPR health correspondent Will Stone talks with Short Wave host Regina G. Barber about the state of long COVID research — what we know, what we don't and when we can expect treatments or even cures for it. Have more COVID questions you want us to cover? Email us at [email protected] — we'd love to hear from you.

Maria E. Garay-Serratos holds a framed photograph of her mother, who died after suffering decades of domestic violence. Scientists are trying to understand how domestic violence damages the brain. Julio Serratos/Maria E. Garay-Serratos hide caption

Shots - Health News

Domestic violence may leave telltale damage in the brain. scientists want to find it.

March 8, 2024 • Traumatic brain injuries from intimate partner violence are common, and potentially more severe than those seen in sports.

Elephantnose Fish, Gnathonemus petersii, Congo ullstein bild hide caption

The "shocking" tactic electric fish use to collectively sense the world

March 8, 2024 • Neuroscientist Nathan Sawtell has spent a lot of time studying the electric elephantnose fish. These fish send and decipher weak electric signals, which Sawtell hopes will eventually help neuroscientists better understand how the brain filters sensory information about the outside world. As Sawtell has studied these electric critters, he's had a lingering question: why do they always seem to organize themselves in a particular orientation. At first, he couldn't figure out why, but a new study released this week in Nature may have an answer: the fish are creating an electrical network larger than any field a single fish can muster alone, and providing collective knowledge about potential dangers in the surrounding water.

The "shocking" tactic electric fish use to collectively sense the world

A digital illustration of a circle of hands extending from the edge of the image, each holding a sheet of paper. The papers overlap in the center and, like a puzzle, come together to reveal a drawing of a handgun. Oona Tempest/KFF Health News hide caption

Meet the public health researchers trying to rein in America's gun violence crisis

Kff health news.

March 6, 2024 • After the 1996 Dickey Amendment halted federal spending on gun violence research, a small group of academics pressed on, with little money or support. Now a new generation is taking up the charge.

This artist's concept shows the Voyager 1 spacecraft entering the space between stars. Interstellar space is dominated by plasma, ionized gas (illustrated here as brownish haze). NASA/JPL-Caltech hide caption

The Voyager 1 spacecraft has a big glitch. Now, NASA must figure out how to fix it

March 6, 2024 • The Voyager 1 space probe is the farthest human-made object in space. It launched in 1977 with a golden record on board that carried assorted sounds of our home planet: greetings in many different languages, dogs barking, and the sound of two people kissing, to name but a few examples. The idea with this record was that someday, Voyager 1 might be our emissary to alien life – an audible time capsule of Earth's beings. Since its launch, it also managed to complete missions to Jupiter and Saturn. In 2012, it crossed into interstellar space.

A case of bronchitis in 2014 left Sanna Stella, a therapist who lives in the Chicago area, with debilitating fatigue. Stacey Wescott/Tribune News Service via Getty Images hide caption

Clues to a better understanding of chronic fatigue syndrome emerge from a major study

February 23, 2024 • After seven years of research, the findings shed light on the long-neglected illness. Scientists say the results could lead to future trials for potential treatments.

A 3D model of a short section of the stone wall. The scale at the bottom of the image measures 50 cm. Photos by Philipp Hoy, University of Rostock; model created using Agisoft Metashape by J. Auer, LAKD M-V hide caption

Scientists scanning the seafloor discover a long-lost Stone Age 'megastructure'

February 22, 2024 • The more than half mile long wall, called the Blinkerwall, was likely used by Stone Age hunter-gatherers to herd reindeer toward a shooting blind.

The sun emits a mid-level solar flare releasing a burst of solar material. NASA hide caption

In light of the solar maximum, a look at the biggest solar storm in recorded history

February 21, 2024 • We are at the height of the Sun's activity in its eleven year cycle, known to astronomers as the solar maximum. This means that over the next several months there's going to be a lot of solar activity. It's got us thinking back to 1859. That's when astronomer Richard Carrington was studying the Sun when he witnessed the most intense geomagnetic storm recorded in history. The storm, triggered by a giant solar flare, sent brilliant auroral displays across the globe causing electrical sparking and fires in telegraph stations. This encore episode, Regina talks to solar physicist Dr. Samaiyah Farid about what's now known as the Carrington event and about what may happen the next time a massive solar storm hits Earth.

One woolly mammoth's journey at the end of the Ice Age

February 19, 2024 • Lately, paleoecologist Audrey Rowe has been a bit preoccupied with a girl named Elma. That's because Elma is ... a woolly mammoth. And 14,000 years ago, when Elma was alive, her habitat in interior Alaska was rapidly changing. The Ice Age was coming to a close and human hunters were starting early settlements. Which leads to an intriguing question: Who, or what , killed her? In the search for answers, Audrey traces Elma's life and journey through — get this — a single tusk. Today, she shares her insights on what the mammoth extinction from thousands of years ago can teach us about megafauna extinctions today with guest host Nate Rott .

Tai chi has many health benefits. It improves flexibility, reduces stress and can help lower blood pressure. Ruth Jenkinson/Getty Images/Science Photo Library hide caption

Tai chi reduces blood pressure better than aerobic exercise, study finds

February 14, 2024 • The slow-moving Chinese martial art tai chi is known to increase flexibility and balance. Now, research suggests it's more effective at reducing blood pressure than more vigorous forms of exercise.

Manny and Cayenne wrestle and kiss. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

Manny loves Cayenne. Plus, 5 facts about queer animals for Valentine's Day

February 14, 2024 • In a Valentine's Day exclusive report, NPR has learned there is currently a gay anteater couple at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington D.C.But this couple is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to queerness in the animal world – it's been documented in hundreds of species. We spoke with wildlife ecologist Christine Wilkinson of the "Queer is Natural" TikTok series to uncover the wildest, queerest animals of the bunch.

Ninety-seven percent of migratory fish species are facing extinction. Whale sharks, the world's largest living fish, are among the endangered. Ullstein Bild/Ullstein Bild hide caption

Across the world, migrating animal populations are dwindling. Here's why

February 12, 2024 • In a landmark U.N. study, researchers found nearly half of the world's threatened migratory species have declining populations. More than a fifth of the assessed animals face extinction.

Clownfish might be counting their potential enemies' stripes

February 9, 2024 • At least, that's what a group of researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University thinks. The team recently published a study in the journal Experimental Biology suggesting that Amphiphrion ocellaris , or clown anemonefish, may be counting. Specifically, the authors think the fish may be looking at the number of vertical white stripes on each other as well as other anemonefish as a way to identify their own species. Not only that — the researchers think that the fish are noticing the minutiae of other anemonefish's looks because of some fishy marine geopolitics.

A sea otter in the estuarine water of Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay, Calif. Emma Levy hide caption

California sea otters nearly went extinct. Now they're rescuing their coastal habitat

February 8, 2024 • California sea otter populations have rebounded in recent decades. New research finds that by feasting on shore crabs, these otters are helping to protect their coastal marsh habitat against erosion.

Why wolves are thriving in this radioactive zone

February 5, 2024 • In 1986 the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, releasing radioactive material into northern Ukraine and Belarus. It was the most serious nuclear accident in history. Over one hundred thousand people were evacuated from the surrounding area. But local gray wolves never left — and their population has grown over the years. It's seven times denser than populations in protected lands elsewhere in Belarus. This fact has led scientists to wonder whether the wolves are genetically either resistant or resilient to cancer — or if the wolves are simply thriving because humans aren't interfering with them.

Spiderwebs can act as air filters that catch environmental DNA from terrestrial vertebrates, scientists say. Rob Stothard/Getty Images hide caption

Need to track animals around the world? Tap into the 'spider-verse,' scientists say

February 1, 2024 • Spiderwebs can capture environmental DNA, or eDNA, from vertebrate animals in their area, potentially making them a useful tool in animal monitoring, tracking and conservation.

Scientists have found that artificial light can interfere with many insects' ability to position themselves relative to the sky. Scott Linstead / Science Source hide caption

'Like moths to a flame'? Here's what's going on with insects and porch lights

January 30, 2024 • Those insects you see flying in crazed circles are trying to keep their backs towards the light because they think that direction is up, new research suggests.

Goats and Soda

Coronavirus faq: how long does my post-covid protection last when is it booster time.

January 28, 2024 • How long does immunity last after an infection? Are rapid tests always accurate? How often is a booster in order? In this installment of our FAQ series, we look into questions about "COVID time."

Hotter than normal temperatures are exacerbating the megadrought that's depleted Western water reserves, like Elephant Butte Reservoir in southern New Mexico, new research finds. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

'Hot droughts' are becoming more common in the arid West, new study finds

January 26, 2024 • Scientists looked at trees to better understand the interplay between temperatures and droughts in the Western U.S. Human-caused climate change is exacerbating both.

Articles on Scientific research

Displaying 1 - 20 of 88 articles.

Early COVID-19 research is riddled with poor methods and low-quality results − a problem for science the pandemic worsened but didn’t create

Dennis M. Gorman , Texas A&M University

Netflix’s You Are What You Eat uses a twin study. Here’s why studying twins is so important for science

Nathan Kettlewell , University of Technology Sydney

Fact-bombing by experts doesn’t change hearts and minds. But good science communication can

Tom Carruthers , The University of Western Australia ; Heather Bray , The University of Western Australia , and Matthew Nurse , Australian National University

Talking about science and technology has positive impacts on research and society

Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher , University of Waterloo ; Donna Strickland , University of Waterloo , and Mary Wells , University of Waterloo

Tenacious curiosity in the lab can lead to a Nobel Prize – mRNA research exemplifies the unpredictable value of basic scientific research

André O. Hudson , Rochester Institute of Technology

Pigs with human brain cells and biological chips: how lab-grown hybrid lifeforms bamboozle scientific ethics

Julian Koplin , Monash University

When Greenland was green: Ancient soil from beneath a mile of ice offers warnings for the future

Paul Bierman , University of Vermont and Tammy Rittenour , Utah State University

10 reasons humans kill animals – and why we can’t avoid it

Benjamin Allen , University of Southern Queensland

Hurricanes push heat deeper into the ocean than scientists realized, boosting long-term ocean warming, new research shows

Noel Gutiérrez Brizuela , University of California, San Diego and Sally Warner , Brandeis University

Colonialism has shaped scientific plant collections around the world – here’s why that matters

Daniel Park , Purdue University

You shed DNA everywhere you go – trace samples in the water, sand and air are enough to identify who you are, raising ethical questions about privacy

Jenny Whilde , University of Florida and Jessica Alice Farrell , University of Florida

Nigeria needs to take science more seriously - an agenda for the new president

Oyewale Tomori , Nigerian Academy of Science

Two decades of stagnant funding have rendered Canada uncompetitive in biomedical research. Here’s why it matters, and how to fix it.

Stephen L Archer , Queen's University, Ontario

How tracking technology is transforming our understanding of animal behaviour

Louise Gentle , Nottingham Trent University

What the world would lose with the demise of Twitter: Valuable eyewitness accounts and raw data on human behavior, as well as a habitat for trolls

Anjana Susarla , Michigan State University

There are 8 years left to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals, but is it enough time?

Rees Kassen , L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa and Ruth Morgan , UCL

‘Gain of function’ research can create experimental viruses. In light of COVID, it should be more strictly regulated – or banned

Colin D. Butler , Australian National University

By fact-checking Thoreau’s observations at Walden Pond, we showed how old diaries and specimens can inform modern research

Tara K. Miller , Boston University ; Abe Miller-Rushing , National Park Service , and Richard B. Primack , Boston University

New ‘ethics guidance’ for top science journals aims to root out harmful research – but can it succeed?

Cordelia Fine , The University of Melbourne

Expanding Alzheimer’s research with primates could overcome the problem with treatments that show promise in mice but don’t help humans

Agnès Lacreuse , UMass Amherst ; Allyson J. Bennett , University of Wisconsin-Madison , and Amanda M. Dettmer , Yale University

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Previous Vice President of the Academy of Science of South Africa and DSI-NRF SARChI chair in Fungal Genomics, Professor in Genetics, University of Pretoria, University of Pretoria

Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Science and Consultant, Vice Principal for Research and Graduate Education, University of Pretoria

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Honorary Professor, Australian National University

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Professor, History & Philosophy of Science program, School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne

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Postdoctoral Fellow in Chronobiology, National Institute for Medical Research

Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Biomedical Engineering, University of Illinois Chicago

Professor of Planetary Science and Astrobiology, Birkbeck, University of London; Honorary Associate Professor, UCL

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• March 18, 2024 | According to Scientists, Smiling Is the Secret to Seeing Happiness
• March 18, 2024 | Freezing the Final Frontier: NASA’s Cryogenic Breakthroughs
• March 18, 2024 | Unlocking the Secrets of Neurodegeneration: New Potential Therapeutic Target Identified
• March 18, 2024 | Beyond the Limit: Chinese Scientists Have Broken the Optical Diffraction Limit Barrier
• March 18, 2024 | Astrophysical Anomalies: The Curious Case of the Spider Galaxy

Science News

Find daily science news and interesting science research articles at SciTechDaily, your all-inclusive hub for the latest breakthroughs, discoveries, and innovations from the ever-evolving world of science. We publish the latest science news and breakthroughs made at top universities and research facilities.

Our expertly curated content dives deep into the complexities of scientific research, unveiling the incredible discoveries and cutting-edge advancements that continue to reshape our understanding of the universe and our place within it. Stay informed, curious, and inspired as we explore the boundless wonders of the scientific realm together.

Learn more about topics such as Climate Change , Computer Science , Geology , Archaeology , Antimatter , Evolution , Neuroscience , Nanoscience , Fluid Dynamics and Energy originating at prestigious institutions like UCLA , Yale , MIT , UC Berkeley , King’s College , Max Planck Institute , Kyoto University , and Oak Ridge National Laboratory .

Science March 18, 2024

According to Scientists, Smiling Is the Secret to Seeing Happiness

Smiling for just a split second makes people more likely to see happiness in expressionless faces, new University of Essex research has revealed. The study…

The Last of the Hunter-Gatherers: New Study Challenges Theories on Ancient Scandinavian Societies

New Study Reveals How the Brain Achieves a Flow State

Jet-Powered Cicada Urination Redefines the Rules of Fluid Dynamics

The Lost Temples of Anahita: Archaeologists Unearth a Water Goddess Cult in the Zagros Mountains

Radiation Paradox: Scientists Discover Nematodes Thriving in Chernobyl’s Toxic Landscape

Peeling Back Time With 5,000 Ancient Human Genomes

New Research Reveals That Happiness Can Be Learned

Scientists Have Identified the Best Region To Spot UFOs

Science March 13, 2024

What Is the Best Way To Memorize Stuff? Scientists Shed New Light

Recent research conducted by psychologists from Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh has unveiled shed insights into our learning processes and the ways in…

Science March 12, 2024

Scientists Uncover Unseen Culprit Behind Historical Vitamin D Deficiency

Research led by the University of Otago has discovered that the widespread occurrence of rickets among children during the Industrial Revolution was not solely caused…

This Colossus Was a “Heron From Hell” – New Research Unravels Secrets of Controversial Dinosaur

Research conducted by UChicago paleontologists and their partners reveals significant flaws in previous theories suggesting that the sail-backed giant predator Spinosaurus actively hunted its prey…

New Research Reveals That Stressful Days Can Actually Make You Look Older

A new study finds younger adults look and feel older on stressful days – but only on days when they also feel they have relatively…

Redefining Canine Care: The Surprising Science Behind Neutering Rottweilers

Owners of a popular dog breed are being encouraged to keep their pet pooch in tip-top condition after a James Cook University study found Rottweilers…

Science March 11, 2024

Why We Wait: The Science of Procrastination

Study finds a lean toward negative attitude predicts procrastination. Putting off a burdensome task may seem like a universal trait, but new research suggests that…

New Study Reveals That Researchers Overrate Their Ethical Standards

The average researcher thinks they are better than their colleagues at following good research practices. They also think that their own research field is better…

Science March 10, 2024

In 2014, an Interstellar Signal Linked to Aliens Was Detected – Scientists Have Finally Discovered Its True Source

Sound waves thought to be from a 2014 meteor fireball north of Papua New Guinea were almost certainly vibrations from a truck rumbling along a…

Eating Refined Carbs Reduces Your Facial Attractiveness – Regardless of BMI or Age

Consuming high-glycemic foods both short-term and long-term was linked to lower attractiveness scores, regardless of other variables like body mass index (BMI) and age. A…

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Earth Sciences

Greenland Ice Sheet motion minimally impacted by late-season melting, study finds

Ice melting has become an ever-pressing concern in recent decades as climate change has brought evocative images of lone polar bears floating on unsustainable small blocks of sea ice. Yet, the consequences are far-reaching ...

Mar 17, 2024

Molecular & Computational biology

Ebola: Scientists reveal a new way it replicates

Scientists in Canada and the U.S. have discovered a new way in which Ebola—an often deadly virus affecting people mostly in sub-Saharan Africa—reproduces in the body.

Investigating the many flavors of edible ants

Insects are typically unwelcome visitors to a picnic, but they could be a flavorful, nutritious and sustainable addition to the menu. Eating insects is common in some parts of the ...

Insects are typically unwelcome visitors to a picnic, but they could be a flavorful, nutritious and sustainable addition to the menu. Eating insects is ...

Biochemistry

Dune: What the climate of Arrakis can tell us about the hunt for habitable exoplanets

Frank Herbert's Dune is epic sci-fi storytelling with an environmental message at its heart. The novels and movies are set on the desert planet of Arrakis, which various characters ...

Frank Herbert's Dune is epic sci-fi storytelling with an environmental message at its heart. The novels and movies are set on the desert planet of Arrakis, ...

Space Exploration

Mar 16, 2024

Saturday Citations: The volcanoes of Mars; Starship launched; 'Try our new menu item,' say Australian researchers

You never can tell when planetary scientists are going to discover a new giant volcano on Mars, but when it happens, I step out to the porch and raise my Lunar and Planetary Society ...

You never can tell when planetary scientists are going to discover a new giant volcano on Mars, but when it happens, I step out to the porch and raise ...

Researchers take deep dive into how much water is stored in snow

A heavy snowpack is fun for skiers and sledders, and it also acts like an open-air storage tank that melts away to provide water for drinking, irrigation and other purposes during dry months.

New research suggests that our universe has no dark matter

The current theoretical model for the composition of the universe is that it's made of normal matter, dark energy and dark matter. A new University of Ottawa study challenges this.

Mar 15, 2024

Snakes: The new, high-protein superfood

Farmed pythons may offer a sustainable and efficient new form of livestock to boost food security, according to new research from Macquarie University.

Plants & Animals

A skating, tri-pedal robot capable of highly stable locomotion

Researchers at University of Michigan recently developed SKOOTR, a tri-pedal skating robot that can efficiently move around in its surroundings without repeatedly flipping over. This robot, introduced in a paper posted to ...

New composite decking could reduce global warming effects of building materials

Buildings and production of the materials used in their construction emit a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming and climate change. But storing CO2 in building materials ...

2 hours ago

Study shows glucose levels affect cognitive performance in people with type 1 diabetes differently

A new study led by researchers at McLean Hospital (a member of Mass General Brigham) and Washington State University used advances in digital testing to demonstrate that naturally occurring glucose fluctuations impact cognitive ...

Weight loss caused by common diabetes drug tied to 'anti-hunger' molecule in study

An "anti-hunger" molecule produced after vigorous exercise is responsible for the moderate weight loss caused by the diabetes medication metformin, according to a new study in mice and humans. The molecule, lac-phe, was discovered ...

Brazilian single-dose dengue vaccine could help turn tide in the fight against fever

Dengue, caused by the virus transmitted by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito and, to a lesser extent, the Aedes albopictus mosquito, is an acute illness characterized mainly by high fever, body aches, and redness ...

Multiphysics Simulation Case Studies

Read about how engineers, researchers, and scientists around the world are using COMSOL Multiphysics for simulation-based product development, design optimization, and more.

The Future is Interdisciplinary

Find out how ACS can accelerate your research to keep up with the discoveries that are pushing us into science’s next frontier

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Gender and racial discrimination uncovered in leadership positions at Australia's leading universities

How social behavior is encoded in the monkey brain during everyday tasks, medical xpress.

Mimicking exercise with a pill

How genetic therapies transformed the lives of sickle cell patients

CDC says people ages 65 and up should get a COVID shot this spring: A geriatrician explains

Pacemaker powered by light eliminates need for batteries and allows the heart to function more naturally—new research

The problem with seeing young sportspeople as athletes first, children second

Some lymphomas become resistant to treatment. Gene discovery may offer path to overcome it.

Ghostbots: AI versions of deceased loved ones could be a serious threat to mental health

Proteins in milk and blood could one day let doctors detect breast cancer earlier, and save lives

Very low calorie diets safe for teens with obesity when monitored by a dietitian, say researchers

Q&A: How meth became an epidemic in America, and what's happening now that it's faded from the headlines

Shortage of primary care doctors could bring crowded ERs: Study

A blood test for colon cancer performed well in a study, expanding options for screening

Researchers call for greater investment in bereavement care

Smokes and votes: Could menthol cigarette ban sway US election?

S. Korean senior doctors to resign in support of junior medics' walkout

Large-scale study explores genetic link between colorectal cancer and meat intake

Women involved in car crashes may be more likely to go into shock than men

Abnormal brain structure identified in children with developmental language problems

New study shows how the brain translates motivation into goal-oriented behavior

Scientists demonstrate how individual differences in 'whole-brain' activity are generated in roundworms

Researchers discover a signaling molecule in neuroblastoma immunosuppression and aggressiveness

Researchers discover key metabolic process responsible for rapid immune responses

Researchers gain insight into why T cells lose energy in solid tumors

Machine learning classifier accelerates the development of cellular immunotherapies

New study reveals breakthrough in understanding brain stimulation therapies

Point-of-care therapeutics sensor could make automated dosing systems universal

New technique opens up study of immune response to cancer based on DNA locked in old archive cancer samples

Tech xplore.

Australian taxi drivers win $178 million payout from Uber

Monsters, asteroids, vampires: AI conspiracies flood TikTok

Gemini's flawed AI racial images seen as warning of tech titans' power

Meta investigated over illicit drug sales: Report

US to investigate Texas fatal crash that may have involved Ford partially automated driving system

Speaking without vocal cords, thanks to a new AI-assisted wearable device

Things to know about Uber and Lyft saying they will halt ride-hailing services in Minneapolis

Boeing urges airlines to check switches after LATAM plane plunge

Reddit reveals FTC inquiry into deals licensing its users' data for AI training

Prosecutors urge 40-50 years for crypto fraudster Bankman-Fried

A system that allows home robots to cook in collaboration with humans

World's first N-channel diamond field-effect transistor for CMOS integrated circuits

Engineers use moisture to pull carbon dioxide out of the air

Harsh field tests shape robotic design in unexpected ways

A rechargeable, non-aqueous manganese metal battery

AI unlocks new solar energy horizons in China

Cheaper batteries are key to shifting transport away from fossil fuels. Can the market deliver?

G7 nations want 'trustworthy' AI but say rules can vary

Will AI save humanity? US tech fest offers reality check

Parallel physical random bit generation towards rates of order 100 Tb/s

Honda and Nissan agree to work together in developing electric vehicles and intelligent technology

Apple reaches $490 million settlement over China comments

Flexible sensors with zero Poisson's ratio

Doping engineering in halide perovskite, an efficient synthesis method of white LEDs

TikTok faces national security review in Canada: Minister

US Senate declines to fast-track TikTok bill

US ambassador says Beijing stance on TikTok ban 'supremely ironic'

The Gen-Z students at the heart of Vietnam's chip plans

GALILEO: Scientists propose a new method to search for light dark matter

New research in Physical Review Letters (PRL) has proposed a novel method to detect light dark matter candidates using laser interferometry to measure the oscillatory electric fields generated by these candidates.

A professor and a complex systems researcher at the University of Sydney has found, through the use of a quantitative measurement statistical tool, that instances of gender and racial discrimination occur in leadership positions ...

Social Sciences

Home robots could assist humans with the completion of various chores and manual tasks, ranging from washing dishes or doing the laundry to cooking, cleaning and tidying up. While many roboticists and computer scientists ...

Einasto Supercluster: The new heavyweight contender in the universe

An international team of scientists led by astronomers from Tartu Observatory of the University of Tartu has discovered many superclusters in the universe, with the most prominent among them named the 'Einasto Supercluster' ...

Shark-bitten orcas in the Northeastern Pacific could be a new population of killer whale

UBC researchers believe a group of killer whales observed hunting marine mammals including sperm whales, as well as a sea turtle, in the open ocean off California and Oregon could be a new population.

A rigorous analysis of numerous studies concludes that a part of the brain traditionally associated with movement is abnormal in children with developmental language impairments, according to Georgetown University Medical ...

A National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) research team has developed the world's first n-channel diamond MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor). The developed n-channel diamond MOSFET provides ...

Ultra-flat optics for broadband thermal imaging

Long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) imaging holds critical significance across many applications, from consumer electronics to defense and national security. It finds applications in night vision, remote sensing, and long-range ...

Optics & Photonics

Hunger can drive a motivational state that leads an animal to a successful pursuit of a goal—foraging for and finding food.

Brighter, cheaper blue light could revolutionize screen technology

Researchers have found a new way to simplify the structure of high-efficiency blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which could lead to longer-lasting and higher definition television screens.

Condensed Matter

Vietnam faces $3bn annual crop losses from rising saltwater levels

Vietnam faces nearly $3 billion a year in crop losses as more saltwater seeps into arable land, state media reported Sunday, citing new research.

Methane: a powerful gas heating the planet

Climate talks often revolve around reducing the most dangerous greenhouse gas CO2.

Acclaimed primatologist Frans de Waal dies at 75: Emory

Primatologist Frans de Waal, whose study of chimpanzees and apes helped reveal the reconciliatory and empathic nature of primates—including humans—has died at age 75, said the university where he worked for decades.

The spring equinox is here. What does that mean?

Spring is almost here—officially, at least. The vernal equinox arrives on Tuesday, marking the start of the spring season for the Northern Hemisphere.

Adagio in sea: Coral larvae 'settle near sounds of healthy reefs'

Audio recordings of healthy reefs—an underwater chorus of fish songs and crackles from snapping shrimp—may help efforts to restore coral ecosystems harmed by climate and human impacts, scientists said Wednesday.

Opinion: Ultra-fast fashion is a disturbing trend undermining efforts to make the whole industry more sustainable

Since the 1990s, fast fashion has enabled everyday people to buy the latest catwalk trends. But the sheer volume of garments being whipped up, sold and soon discarded is contributing to a global sustainability crisis.

Whale menopause sheds light on human evolutionary mystery

Why do humans experience menopause? It's a question that some women going through the symptoms might have asked themselves more than once.

The sunken treasure of the San José shipwreck is contested—but its real riches go beyond coins and jewels

The San José was a galleon ship owned by King Philip V of Spain (1683–1746) in the 18th century. It sailed from Portobelo in present-day Panama to Cartagena in Colombia in 1708.

A volcano in Iceland is erupting for the fourth time in 3 months, sending plumes of lava skywards

A volcano in Iceland erupted Saturday evening for the fourth time in three months, sending orange jets of lava into the night sky.

How 'Dune' became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement, and a rallying cry for the new science of ecology

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Computing 'paradigm shift' could see phones and laptops run twice as fast — without replacing a single component.

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Science News

These are the most-read science news stories of 2021.

The International Space Station spotted the origins of a bizarre type of upside-down lightning called a blue jet (illustrated) zipping up from a thundercloud into the stratosphere in 2019. The discovery ranked among  Science News ' most-read stories of 2021.

DTU SPACE, DANIEL SCHMELLING/MOUNT VISUAL

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By Science News Staff

December 23, 2021 at 9:00 am

Science News drew over 21 million visitors to our website this year. Here’s a rundown of the most-read news stories and long reads of 2021.

Top news stories

1. space station detectors found the source of weird ‘blue jet’ lightning.

Instruments on the International Space Station detected the origins of an odd type of lightning called a blue jet. The bizarre bolt is sparked by a “blue bang” — a flash of bright blue light that may be brought on by the turbulent mixing of oppositely charged regions within a thundercloud ( SN: 2/13/21, p. 14 ).

2. A newfound quasicrystal formed in the first atomic bomb test

The first atomic bomb test, in 1945, forged a peculiar, glassy material called trinitite — and within it, a rare form of matter called a quasicrystal . Quasicrystals’ atoms are arranged in an orderly structure like normal crystals, but the structure’s pattern doesn’t repeat ( SN: 6/19/21, p. 12 ).

3. An Indigenous people in the Philippines have the most Denisovan DNA

The Ayta Magbukon people in the Philippines set the record for the highest known level of Denisovan ancestry — about 5 percent of their DNA comes from the ancient hominids . The finding suggests that several Denisovan populations independently reached Southeast Asia and interbred with Homo sapiens groups that arrived thousands of years later ( SN: 9/11/21, p. 16 ).

4. Astronomers may have seen a star gulp down a black hole and explode

In a first, astronomers caught a glimpse of a rare double cosmic cannibalism : A star swallowed a black hole or neutron star, which then gobbled that star from within, resulting in an astonishing explosion ( SN: 10/9/21 & 10/23/21, p. 6 ).

5. Frog skin cells turned themselves into living machines

Skin stem cells plucked from frog embryos organized themselves into miniature living robots, dubbed “xenobots,” that can swim, move around debris and even self-heal . Xenobots may one day serve a useful purpose, but ethical questions need to be considered ( SN: 4/24/21, p. 8 ).

Favorite video

Acrobatic rabbits bewitched online readers in our most-viewed YouTube video posted this year. The video — accompanying the story “ A gene defect may make rabbits do handstands instead of hop ” ( SN: 4/24/21, p. 13 ) — shows a sauteur d’Alfort rabbit walking on its front paws (below). Such hop-less bunnies may have adopted the odd gait because of a mutation in a gene called RORB , scientists discovered.

Top feature stories

1. new drugs that block a brain chemical are game changers for some migraine sufferers.

A class of drugs that inhibits a neurotransmitter called calcitonin gene-related peptide is helping some patients who suffer from chronic, debilitating migraines ( SN: 3/27/21, p. 16 ).

2. Einstein’s theory of general relativity unveiled a dynamic and bizarre cosmos

Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity has served as the bedrock of our understanding of the cosmos. In the last 100 years, scientists have confirmed its most radical predictions, including black holes, gravitational waves and an expanding universe ( SN: 2/13/21, p. 16 ).

3. Chemists are reimagining recycling to keep plastics out of landfills

No matter people’s dedication to sorting and recycling plastics, most still end up in landfills because the materials are too difficult to transform into useful new products. Some chemists are trying to change that ( SN: 1/30/21, p. 20 ).

4. Psychology has struggled for a century to make sense of the mind

In the last 100 years, psychologists and other social scientists have dug into the muddy “science of us” and developed conflicting theories about human thought and behavior. From the messy, contentious research bloomed insights into what makes humans tick ( SN: 8/14/21, p. 18 ).

5. Fossils and ancient DNA paint a vibrant picture of human origins

From the Taung Child to Lucy, the last century of paleoanthropology has sketched a rough timeline of how humans came to be. Scientists now agree that human evolution has its roots in Africa, but many mysteries in our history remain to be solved ( SN: 9/25/21, p. 20 ).

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March 18, 2024

Too Much Trust in AI Poses Unexpected Threats to the Scientific Process

It’s vital to “keep humans in the loop” to avoid humanizing machine-learning models in research

By Lauren Leffer

Moor Studio/Getty Images

Machine-learning models are quickly becoming common tools in scientific research. These artificial intelligence systems are helping bioengineers discover new potential antibiotics , veterinarians interpret animals’ facial expressions , papyrologists read words on ancient scrolls , mathematicians solve baffling problems and climatologists predict sea-ice movements . Some scientists are even probing large language models’ potential as proxies or replacements for human participants in psychology and behavioral research. In one recent example, computer scientists ran ChatGPT through the conditions of the Milgram shock experiment —the famous study on obedience in which people gave what they believed were increasingly painful electric shocks to an unseen person when told to do so by an authority figure—and other well-known psychology studies. The artificial intelligence model responded in a similar way as humans did —75 percent of simulated participants administered shocks of 300 volts and above.

But relying on these machine-learning algorithms also carry risks. Some of those risks are commonly acknowledged, such as generative AI’s tendency to spit out occasional “hallucinations” (factual inaccuracies or nonsense). Artificial intelligence tools can also replicate and even amplify human biases about characteristics such as race and gender. And the AI boom, which has given rise to complex, trillion-variable models, requires water- and energy-hungry data centers that likely have high environmental costs.

One big risk is less obvious, though potentially very consequential: humans tend to automatically attribute a great deal of authority and trust to machines. This misplaced faith could cause serious problems when AI systems are used for research , according to a paper published in early March in Nature .

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“These tools are being anthropomorphized and framed as humanlike and superhuman. We risk inappropriately extending trust to the information produced by AI,” says the new paper’s co-author Molly Crockett , a cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist at Princeton University. AI models are human-made products, and they “represent the views and positions of the people who developed them,” says Lisa Messeri , a Yale University sociocultural anthropologist who worked with Crockett on the paper. Scientific American spoke with both researchers to learn more about the ways scientists use AI—and the potential effects of trusting this technology too much.

[ An edited transcript of the interview follows. ]

Why did you write this paper?

LISA MESSERI: [Crockett] and I started seeing and sharing all sorts of large, lofty promises of what AI could offer the scientific pipeline and scientific community. When we really started to think we needed to write something was when we saw claims that large language models could become substitutions for human subjects in research. These claims, given our years of conversation, seemed wrong-footed.

MOLLY CROCKETT: I have been using machine learning in my own research for several years, [and] advances in AI are enabling scientists to ask questions we couldn’t ask before. But, as I’ve been doing this research and observing that excitement among colleagues, I have developed a sense of uneasiness that’s been difficult to shake.

Beyond using large language models to replace human participants, how are scientists thinking about deploying AI?

CROCKETT: Previously we helped write a response to a study in [ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA ]that claimed machine learning could be used to predict whether research would [be replicable] just from the words in a paper.... That struck us as technically implausible. But more broadly, we’ve discovered that scientists are talking about using AI tools to make their work more objective and to be more productive.

We found that both of those goals are quite risky and open up scientists to producing more while understanding less. The worry is that we’re going to think that these tools are helping us to understand the world better, when in reality they might actually be distorting our view.

MESSERI: We categorize the AI uses we observed in our review into four categories: the Surrogate, the Oracle, the Quant and the Arbiter. The Surrogate is what we’ve already discussed—it replaces human subjects. The Oracle is an AI tool that is asked to synthesize the existing corpus of research and produce something, such as a review or new hypotheses. The Quant is AI that is used by scientists to process the intense amount of data out there—maybe produced by those machine surrogates. AI Arbiters are like [the tools described] in the [ PNAS ] replication study [Crockett] mentioned, tools for evaluating and adducting research. We call these visions for AI because they’re not necessarily being executed today in a successful or clean way, but they’re all being explored and proposed.

For each of these uses, you’ve pointed out that even if AI’s hallucinations and other technical problems are solved, risks remain. What are those risks?

CROCKETT: The overarching metaphor we use is this idea of monoculture, which comes from agriculture. Monocultures are very efficient. They improve productivity. But they’re vulnerable to being invaded by pests or disease; you’re more likely to lose the whole crop when you have a monoculture versus a diversity of what you’re growing. Scientific monocultures, too, are vulnerable to risks such as errors propagating throughout the whole system. This is especially the case with the foundation models in AI research, where one infrastructure is being used and applied across many domains. If there’s some error in that system, it can have widespread effects.

We identify two kinds of scientific monocultures that can arise with widespread AI adoption. The first is the monoculture of knowing. AI tools are only suited to answer certain kinds of questions. Because these tools boost productivity, the overall set of research questions being explored could become tailored to what AI is good at.

Then there’s the monoculture of the knower , where AI tools come to replace human thinkers. And because AI tools have a specific standpoint, this eliminates the diversity of different human perspectives from research production. When you have many different kinds of minds working on a scientific problem, you’re more likely to spot false assumptions or missed opportunities.

Both monocultures could lead to cognitive illusions.

What do you mean by illusions?

MESSERI: One example that’s already out there in psychology is the illusion of explanatory depth. Basically, when someone in your community claims they know something, you tend to assume you know that thing as well.

In your paper you cite research demonstrating that using a search engine can trick someone into believing they know something—when really they only have online access to that knowledge. And students who use AI assistant tools to respond to test questions end up thinking they understand a topic better than they do.

MESSERI: Exactly. Building off that one illusion of explanatory depth, we also identify two others. First, the illusion of exploratory breadth, where someone thinks they’re examining more than they are: There are an infinite number of questions we could ask about science and about the world. We worry that with the expansion of AI, the questions that AI is well suited to answer will be mistaken for the entire field of questions one could ask. Then there’s the risk of an illusion of objectivity. Either there’s an assumption that AI represents all standpoints or there’s an assumption that AI has no standpoint at all. But at the end of the day, AI tools are created by humans coming from a particular perspective.

How can scientists avoid falling into these traps? How can we mitigate these risks?

MESSERI: There’s the institutional level where universities and publishers dictate research. These institutions are developing partnerships with AI companies. We have to be very circumspect about the motivations behind that.... One mitigation strategy is just to be incredibly forthright about where the funding for AI is coming from and who benefits from the work being done on it.

CROCKETT: At the institutional level, funders, journal editors and universities can be mindful of developing a diverse portfolio of research to ensure that they’re not putting all the resources into research that uses a single-AI approach. In the future, it might be necessary to consciously protect resources for the kinds of research that can’t be addressed with AI tools.

And what sort of research is that?

CROCKETT: Well, as of right now, AI cannot think like a human. Any research about human thought and behavior, and also qualitative research, is not addressable with AI tools.

Would you say that in the worst-case scenario, AI poses an existential threat to human scientific knowledge production? Or is that an overstatement?

CROCKETT: I don’t think that it’s an overstatement. I think we are at a crossroads around how we decide what knowledge is and how we proceed in the endeavor of knowledge production.

Is there anything else you think is important for the public to really understand about what’s happening with AI and scientific research?

MESSERI: From the perspective of reading media coverage of AI, it seems as though this is some preordained, inevitable “evolution” of scientific and technical development. But as an anthropologist of science and technology, I would really like to emphasize that science and tech don’t proceed in an inevitable direction. It is always human-driven. These narratives of inevitability are themselves a product of human imagination and come from mistaking the desire by some to be a prophecy for all. Everyone, even nonscientists, can be part of questioning this narrative of inevitability by imagining the different futures that might come true instead.

CROCKETT: Being skeptical about AI in science doesn’t require being a hater of AI in science and technology. We love science. I’m excited about AI and its potential for science. But just because an AI tool is being used in science does not mean that it is automatically better science.

As scientists, we are trained to deny our humanness. We’re trained that human experience, bias and opinion have no place in the scientific method. The future of autonomous, AI “self-driving” labs is the pinnacle of realizing that sort of training. But increasingly we are seeing evidence that diversity of thought, experience and training in humans that do the science is vital for producing robust, innovative and creative knowledge. We don’t want to lose that. To keep the vitality of scientific knowledge production, we need to keep humans in the loop.

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Doing more, but learning less: the risks of ai in research.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely heralded for its potential to enhance productivity in scientific research. But with that promise come risks that could narrow scientists’ ability to better understand the world, according to a new paper co-authored by a Yale anthropologist.

Some future AI approaches, the authors argue, could constrict the questions researchers ask, the experiments they perform, and the perspectives that come to bear on scientific data and theories.

All told, these factors could leave people vulnerable to “illusions of understanding” in which they believe they comprehend the world better than they do.

The paper published March 7 in Nature .

“ There is a risk that scientists will use AI to produce more while understanding less,” said co-author Lisa Messeri, an anthropologist in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “We’re not arguing that scientists shouldn’t use AI tools, but we’re advocating for a conversation about how scientists will use them and suggesting that we shouldn’t automatically assume that all uses of the technology, or the ubiquitous use of it, will benefit science.”

The paper, co-authored by Princeton cognitive scientist M. J. Crockett, sets a framework for discussing the risks involved in using AI tools throughout the scientific research process, from study design through peer review.

“ We hope this paper offers a vocabulary for talking about AI’s potential epistemic risks,” Messeri said.

Added Crockett: “To understand these risks, scientists can benefit from work in the humanities and qualitative social sciences.”

Messeri and Crockett classified proposed visions of AI spanning the scientific process that are currently creating buzz among researchers into four archetypes:

• In study design, they argue, “AI as Oracle” tools are imagined as being able to objectively and efficiently search, evaluate, and summarize massive scientific literatures, helping researchers to formulate questions in their project’s design stage.
• In data collection, “AI as Surrogate” applications, it is hoped, allow scientists to generate accurate stand-in data points, including as a replacement for human study participants, when data is otherwise too difficult or expensive to obtain.
• In data analysis, “AI as Quant” tools seek to surpass the human intellect’s ability to analyze vast and complex datasets.
• And “AI as Arbiter” applications aim to objectively evaluate scientific studies for merit and replicability, thereby replacing humans in the peer-review process.   

The authors warn against treating AI applications from these four archetypes as trusted partners, rather than simply tools , in the production of scientific knowledge. Doing so, they say, could make scientists susceptible to illusions of understanding, which can crimp their perspectives and convince them that they know more than they do.

The efficiencies and insights that AI tools promise can weaken the production of scientific knowledge by creating “monocultures of knowing,” in which researchers prioritize the questions and methods best suited to AI over other modes of inquiry, Messeri and Crockett state. A scholarly environment of that kind leaves researchers vulnerable to what they call “illusions of exploratory breadth,” where scientists wrongly believe that they are exploring all testable hypotheses, when they are only examining the narrower range of questions that can be tested through AI.

For example, “Surrogate” AI tools that seem to accurately mimic human survey responses could make experiments that require measurements of physical behavior or face-to-face interactions increasingly unpopular because they are slower and more expensive to conduct, Crockett said.

The authors also describe the possibility that AI tools become viewed as more objective and reliable than human scientists, creating a “monoculture of knowers” in which AI systems are treated as a singular, authoritative, and objective knower in place of a diverse scientific community of scientists with varied backgrounds, training, and expertise. A monoculture, they say, invites “illusions of objectivity” where scientists falsely believe that AI tools have no perspective or represent all perspectives when, in truth, they represent the standpoints of the computer scientists who developed and trained them.

“ There is a belief around science that the objective observer is the ideal creator of knowledge about the world,” Messeri said. “But this is a myth. There has never been an objective ‘knower,’ there can never be one, and continuing to pursue this myth only weakens science.”  

There is substantial evidence that human diversity makes science more robust and creative, the authors add.

“ Acknowledging that science is a social practice that benefits from including diverse standpoints will help us realize its full potential,” Crockett said. “Replacing diverse standpoints with AI tools will set back the clock on the progress we’ve made toward including more perspectives in scientific work.”

It is important to remember AI’s social implications, which extend far beyond the laboratories where it is being used in research, Messeri said.

“ We train scientists to think about technical aspects of new technology,” she said. “We don’t train them nearly as well to consider the social aspects, which is vital to future work in this domain.”

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Guest Essay

The Best Way to Find Out if We Can Cool the Planet

By Jeremy Freeman

Dr. Freeman is the executive director of CarbonPlan, a climate research nonprofit.

A few years ago, the idea of deliberately blocking the sun to combat climate change was taboo for scientists. But a lot can change in a short time .

As the disastrous effects of climate change mount, Congress has asked federal scientists for a research plan , private money is flowing and rogue start-ups are attempting experiments — all signs that momentum around solar geoengineering is building fast. The most discussed approach involves spraying tiny particles into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight and cool the planet. Other proposals include injecting sea salt into clouds to increase their reflectivity or using giant space parasols to block the sun .

It might all sound like dystopian science fiction, but some techno-futurists, like OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, are already normalizing it: “We’re going to have to do something dramatic with climate like geoengineering as a Band-Aid, as a stop gap,” he said in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

No one fully understands the risks of these technologies — which could include calamitous disruptions in weather — or how significant the benefits could be. I’m increasingly convinced that we should do more research on solar geoengineering . But such high-stakes science requires extraordinary levels of transparency and accountability to the global public. The alternative is clandestine research controlled by corporations or autocratic regimes, lurching toward deployment without knowing — or knowing and not sharing — the true risks.

The potential risks of solar geoengineering are serious. Spraying reflective particles in one place, for example, could significantly change rainfall patterns elsewhere. What’s more, once anyone starts solar geoengineering at a larger scale, suddenly stopping it could lead to “ termination shock ” — global temperatures rapidly readjusting to where they would have been without geoengineering. With such terrifying points of no return, every accelerating step of research requires global public participation and deliberation.

Most research so far has been tentative and contained to computer simulations . But to know what will happen in the real world, we also need outdoor experiments. By launching an instrument-laden balloon into the stratosphere, for example, researchers could release a tiny amount of particles and measure how they interact with the atmosphere, with minimal environmental risk.

But already we’ve seen a backlash to these kinds of experiments: Harvard geoengineering researchers planned a dry run of their instruments in Sweden in 2021 only to be shut down after the Indigenous Saami Council and local environmental groups protested the tests. A key concern was how such research could redirect attention and investment from more pressing efforts to reduce emissions, thereby becoming a moral hazard . More recently, Mexico banned geoengineering experiments after discovering an American tech entrepreneur had launched a balloon test without permission. And a startup out of Israel has now raised millions of dollars and is planning experiments with little to no transparency. Some assessments suggest that more experiments, and even larger deployments, are increasingly likely. It would be far better if they happened in the open, as in Sweden, rather than in secret.

Even in places where no experiments have been planned, the public is wary. Most people haven’t heard of geoengineering in the United States, but of those who have, 72 percent reported being very concerned we’ll use it before understanding its impact. More broadly, while there’s evidence of support for research , that support is reluctant and conditional. Without transparency and trust, public debate on geoengineering could devolve into conspiracy theories and partisan ideology.

A reluctance to trust scientists is understandable. Science as a profession has for too long pursued prestige at the expense of integrity, and public scientific institutions have been increasingly privatized with minimal accountability. With a long, troubled history that includes eugenics and weapons of war, we cannot pretend that science is either pure or infallible.

But science is fallible precisely because it is a practice , a cooperative human activity. And as the moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre reminds us, engaging in a practice well requires exercising its virtues — which for science include transparency, honesty, humility, skepticism and collaboration. For geoengineering, that means disclosing all funding and effectively managing potential conflicts of interests; ensuring the participation of stakeholders from around the world in decision making ; avoiding group think; sharing early-stage results and data to accelerate research ; and engaging in radically open science .

Transparency on its own may not lead to the widespread adoption of a new technology. A study on Covid-19 vaccine communication showed that increased transparency, especially about negative outcomes, led to lower vaccine acceptance — but it did increase trust in public health. A potential lesson for solar geoengineering is that transparency is important even when, or perhaps especially when, it doesn’t result in the outcome scientists initially imagine.

We should be especially wary of ceding control over geoengineering research to the tech industry. Often under the guise of virtue, techno-futurists capitalize on the power that comes from scientific knowledge while exploiting people and the environment, a pattern The Atlantic’s Adrienne LaFrance diagnoses as techno-authoritarianism. We cannot allow private for-profit entities to steer, or covertly fund, solar geoengineering research.

Instead, any research must be done by institutions acting in the public’s interest. If private funding is the only option, scientists will need to choose carefully where they work and defend their integrity against external pressures. They must clearly communicate research findings, positive and negative, and educate the public about what’s possible and what’s at stake. That way the public can in turn hold policymakers, regulators and scientists to account, with everyone working together in pursuit of a common good.

When confronted with the prospect of solar geoengineering, we may wish it had never come to this point. But we can still decide how to move forward responsibly, with and for the public.

Jeremy Freeman is the executive director of CarbonPlan, a climate research nonprofit. Much of CarbonPlan’s work has focused on carbon dioxide removal, another controversial climate technology.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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A noninvasive treatment for “chemo brain”

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Patients undergoing chemotherapy often experience cognitive effects such as memory impairment and difficulty concentrating — a condition commonly known as “chemo brain.”

MIT researchers have now shown that a noninvasive treatment that stimulates gamma frequency brain waves may hold promise for treating chemo brain. In a study of mice, they found that daily exposure to light and sound with a frequency of 40 hertz protected brain cells from chemotherapy-induced damage. The treatment also helped to prevent memory loss and impairment of other cognitive functions.

This treatment, which was originally developed as a way to treat Alzheimer’s disease, appears to have widespread effects that could help with a variety of neurological disorders, the researchers say.

“The treatment can reduce DNA damage, reduce inflammation, and increase the number of oligodendrocytes, which are the cells that produce myelin surrounding the axons,” says Li-Huei Tsai, director of MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Picower Professor in the MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. “We also found that this treatment improved learning and memory, and enhanced executive function in the animals.”

Tsai is the senior author of the new study, which appears today in Science Translational Medicine . The paper’s lead author is TaeHyun Kim, an MIT postdoc.

Protective brain waves

Several years ago, Tsai and her colleagues began exploring the use of light flickering at 40 hertz (cycles per second) as a way to improve the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Previous work had suggested that Alzheimer’s patients have impaired gamma oscillations — brain waves that range from 25 to 80 hertz (cycles per second) and are believed to contribute to brain functions such as attention, perception, and memory.

Tsai’s studies in mice have found that exposure to light flickering at 40 hertz or sounds with a pitch of 40 hertz can stimulate gamma waves in the brain, which has many protective effects, including preventing the formation of amyloid beta plaques. Using light and sound together provides even more significant protection. The treatment also appears promising in humans: Phase 1 clinical trials in people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease have found the treatment is safe and does offer some neurological and behavioral benefits.

In the new study, the researchers set out to see whether this treatment could also counteract the cognitive effects of chemotherapy treatment. Research has shown that these drugs can induce inflammation in the brain, as well as other detrimental effects such as loss of white matter — the networks of nerve fibers that help different parts of the brain communicate with each other. Chemotherapy drugs also promote loss of myelin, the protective fatty coating that allows neurons to propagate electrical signals. Many of these effects are also seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.

“Chemo brain caught our attention because it is extremely common, and there is quite a lot of research on what the brain is like following chemotherapy treatment,” Tsai says. “From our previous work, we know that this gamma sensory stimulation has anti-inflammatory effects, so we decided to use the chemo brain model to test whether sensory gamma stimulation can be beneficial.”

As an experimental model, the researchers used mice that were given cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug often used to treat testicular, ovarian, and other cancers. The mice were given cisplatin for five days, then taken off of it for five days, then on again for five days. One group received chemotherapy only, while another group was also given 40-hertz light and sound therapy every day.

After three weeks, mice that received cisplatin but not gamma therapy showed many of the expected effects of chemotherapy: brain volume shrinkage, DNA damage, demyelination, and inflammation. These mice also had reduced populations of oligodendrocytes, the brain cells responsible for producing myelin.

However, mice that received gamma therapy along with cisplatin treatment showed significant reductions in all of those symptoms. The gamma therapy also had beneficial effects on behavior: Mice that received the therapy performed much better on tests designed to measure memory and executive function.

“A fundamental mechanism”

Using single-cell RNA sequencing, the researchers analyzed the gene expression changes that occurred in mice that received the gamma treatment. They found that in those mice, inflammation-linked genes and genes that trigger cell death were suppressed, especially in oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible for producing myelin.

In mice that received gamma treatment along with cisplatin, some of the beneficial effects could still be seen up to four months later. However, the gamma treatment was much less effective if it was started three months after the chemotherapy ended.

The researchers also showed that the gamma treatment improved the signs of chemo brain in mice that received a different chemotherapy drug, methotrexate, which is used to treat breast, lung, and other types of cancer.

“I think this is a very fundamental mechanism to improve myelination and to promote the integrity of oligodendrocytes. It seems that it’s not specific to the agent that induces demyelination, be it chemotherapy or another source of demyelination,” Tsai says.

Because of its widespread effects, Tsai’s lab is also testing gamma treatment in mouse models of other neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Cognito Therapeutics, a company founded by Tsai and MIT Professor Edward Boyden, has finished a phase 2 trial of gamma therapy in Alzheimer’s patients, and plans to begin a phase 3 trial this year.

“My lab’s major focus now, in terms of clinical application, is Alzheimer’s; but hopefully we can test this approach for a few other indications, too,” Tsai says.

The research was funded by the JPB Foundation, the Ko Hahn Seed Fund, and the National Institutes of Health.

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MIT scientists have found that a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease involving flickering lights and low-pitched sound could also help prevent cognitive problems after cancer treatment, reports Clare Wilson for  New Scientist . The treatment is aimed at stimulating 40 Hz brainwaves, which are linked to memory processing. The results suggest targeting such “brainwaves may result in broader benefits for the brain, including increasing the activity of immune cells and, most recently, boosting its drainage system, which could help clear a toxic protein called beta-amyloid.”  

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